Eric "Butters" Stough was born in Mayberry, North Carolina, then moved to Colorado. He attended high school there, where he was a classmate of Trey Parker. He attended the University of Colorado, with show co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but then moved back to North Carolina.

His career led him to Los Angeles in 1996, when he was invited to work on South Park, and he had been working on the show as Animation Director since the pilot. He has also done voices for the show, and appeared in the film, Orgazmo.